Wallaby Swatchiness

Last night I decided to swatch for the Wallaby I'm going to make for my boy. It's probably going to be huge on him since he's 2 and the next size up is a 4, but I'd rather make it too big and have him grow into it than make it too small and not have him be able to use it.

It was 97 degrees outside and I'm going to cast on for a sweater. I think there's something wrong with this picture. Thank goodness for air conditioning!!!

No, there's not something funky going on in the rows on the right. Well, actually there is, but it's intentional. I've put in purl bumps to indicate my needle size--US5 for the bottom part, and US4 for the top part. I always think "oh, I'll remember what needle size I was using on that!" and of course I never do.

So I balled it up in my hand, mashed it into some warm water, scrubbed, squeezed, and otherwise abused it washed the swatch to test for color fastness. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as it could have been with the way cotton dyes tend to never exhaust. And just for you, Lisa, here's my paper towel, on which the swatch rested while it dried overnight:

Really, not too bad for the yarn being 80% cotton and such a rich color. I'm not too worried about it bleeding onto the white yarn that I haven't decided how to incorporate (yet). Thanks for the heads-up, Lisa!

I'm ordering some needles from KnitPicks to make this sweater, so I'm going to put the project aside while I study the pattern and get a few other projects out of the way. I'm almost finished with the Spiral Doily, just need to do the crocheted bind off. Maybe tomorrow. I want to have it finished (and blocked!!) by the next knitting guild meeting, since I started it at the last guild meeting.

And now I've got to get to bed. Why do I always end up posting at midnight?? Oh yeah, housework and two little kids, the lights of my life, who need my attention during the day. :-) Totally worth it. Well, the kids and hubby are, any way. LOL!!